Once Upon A Zombie
by kindervelter
Summary: When one of Dr. Whale's experiments goes awry, the town finds itself on the brink of a full-on zombie apocalypse. Soon all but a small group of residents are infected, and those still alive must work together to find a solution before Storybrooke is completely destroyed.
1. Chapter 1

**Once Upon A Zombie**

**Epilogue: How to Make a Zombie**

Once Upon a Zombie

(Disclaimer: I own no characters or anything at all. It's all just for fun)

Storybrooke General Hospital had been a bit boring since the curse had broken. This would have been a fairly trivial matter, save for the fact that it gave a certain Doctor Whale an excess of time in which to conduct his "experiments"... the type of experiment that had once brought Regina's love Daniel back from the dead.

This time, however, Whale was hoping for a slightly better result. Namely, one that didn't result in having a homicidal corpse-maniac on the loose. So far he wasn't having much luck in that department. His last two endeavors had ended with severely mangled bodies being buried behind the hospital in the dead of night. Whale was really hoping he wouldn't have to get his hands dirty again.

Holding his breath, Whale began to suture up his present victim. It was some old door mouse turned human that had dropped dead of a heart attack earlier that week. Without a family there would be no one to miss the man… the perfect candidate for one of Whale's tests. He heaved a sigh of relief as he pulled the needle for the final time. The hard part was finished.

Now it was simply a matter of restarting the enchanted heart that was now in the corpse. That was where his main field of study came into play. _Science truly is this world's most powerful magic _Whale thought to himself as he pulled out the shock panels and started them up. A wicked grin spread across his face.

"Clear." He said, though only by force of habit. There was no way he'd allow anyone to know about the work he was doing in the hospital's basement. He'd be run out of town faster than Regina during one of her stints as a villain. Shoving the thought out of his head, he brought the panels down on the body and watched as it jolted upwards for a moment, then fell back down. Still no heartbeat.

Taking a long breath, he brought the panels down again. Same result. _One more time. _Wishing himself luck, Whale hit the body with one last jolt of electricity. _Beep. _Whale's eyes lit up as the monitor to his left beeped to life. The small green line signifying a heartbeat rose, then fell, then rose again. It was working. It was actually working.

Whale wouldn't allow himself to get too excited just yet, however. The last two "experiments" had begun with a modicum of success. He'd been able to produce a heartbeat, but after five minutes the victim was dead once more. Enchanted hearts were strong, but without some science to back them up they weren't strong enough to support life a second time around. This time, however, Whale felt he'd finally cracked it.

He picked up the small black leather notebook to his left and scribbled down some notes. _Patient revived. Heartbeat steady. No visible signs of consciousness yet. _Even as he wrote the words, however, Whale saw the man's fingers begin to wiggle. It was working. He was coming back.

"Feeling alright, sir?" Whale asked awkwardly. He'd never made it that far in his experiments before, and the whole experience was rather exhilarating. When no response came, however, Whale began to doubt himself. "Perhaps another few CC's of-" He cut himself off as he saw the patient's eyes open… the patient's suddenly very black eyes. That probably wasn't a very good sign.

Whale glanced at the restraints around the wrists and ankles of the body. They were sturdy and had held the previous two victims in place… though neither of them had been alive again long enough to test the strength of said restraints.

The man on the table was moving now, attempting to get up. He pulled at his wrists and ankles, unable to move them. He looked ravenous, as though he hadn't eaten in days. And those eyes. Those horrible, horrible eyes. Moving down from them, however, Whale saw something even more disgusting: he was foaming at the mouth.

"Oh my God." Whale said, backing up to the door behind him. The man on the operating table had gone from angry to almost inhumanly enraged. He ripped at the restraints hard enough that the bolts holding them in began to pull away from the table. Whale frantically punched his code into the door, which slid open a bit more slowly than he would have liked.

By then the former corpse had managed to rip the arm restraints off and was working hard on the feet. He looked at Whale with a crazed look in his eye. He wanted to kill him… violently. Whale exited the room without a glance back and destroyed the access panel from the outside. Now there would be no way in or out save breaking the door-

Whale's blood froze in his veins when he heard the pounding. It was like a gorilla was trying to break through the door. A gorilla that he'd created. Judging by the dents in the door, Whale didn't have much time before that gorilla caught up with him.

Whale wanted to say something. He wanted to pray. He wanted to beg. He wanted to die. But there was nothing inside of him to say it. There was just terror. He screamed, hoping that somehow someone might hear him… might save him.

He broke into a run, dashing for the end of the hallway where another door waited. His fingers were shaking and the beginnings of tears were staining his eyes. He felt like he was going to throw up. He did throw up. He'd never been so terrified of anything in his life. The worst part was, he'd created.

He wiped his eyes on his coat sleeve and turned to the access panel. _5, 7, 6, 2, 3. Dammit! _The three was wrong. His hands were shaking too badly to get the right keys. He looked behind him. A section of the metal door to the operating room had been pulled back. The creature was there, staring at him, pulling at the metal.

Whale threw up again, the acid burning his throat. He screamed again, banging at the door in front of him. All logic had left his mind. This was hysteria, plain and simple. It was the worst feeling imaginable.

He clawed at the access panel, trying to make it work in vain. _5, 7, 6, 4. No, dammit, no! _He screamed again, reset the panel and punched in the first two digits. Then he looked back. The door was completely gone. The creature was nowhere in sight. But it was there. He knew it was there.

Whale's stomach twisted more aggressively than ever before. He wretched a final time, this time onto his jacket. He was covered in sweat and his nerves were frayed. The creature was there. Whale sunk to the floor, hoping for death. Death would be better than whatever he'd been through in the last five minutes.

When he opened his eyes again, it was back. The man was there, at the end of the hall, staring at him. Those black eyes. Whale flipped around suddenly and tried the code one final time. Wrong. he punched again, but failed. He collected himself and tried once more. He was one digit away when it grabbed him by the ankle and yanked him away from the door.

He screamed. And he screamed. And he didn't stop screaming until it was over. The monster destroyed Whale. The good doctor was gone. Then, as calmly as the corpse and his physician had entered the room, they got up off the floor and walked out of it. The door was easy enough to beat down with two of them to work at it. Now there was a whole town's worth of food to pick from… As the two made their way up the stairs to the main rotunda of the hospital, there was only one question on Whale's mind: _who first?_

_. . . . . . . . . . ._

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-Do you ship Frankenwolf?**

**-Who will be next?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Once Upon A Zombie**

_Sometimes I really hate this job. _Emma thought to herself as she walked hastily into the hospital. She didn't mind the place really, but her purpose there was more than enough to put her in a bad mood; some nut had asked her to look into an accidental death, which meant she had to retrieve the death certificate, and the birth certificate, and talk to all the nursing staff on call the night of the incident. It was a real pain in the neck.

"Hello," Emma said sweetly as she approached the desk, her voice not betraying a hint of the annoyance she truly felt. "I'm looking for Dr. Whale." The nurse-Emma recognized her as the one who'd formerly worked in the psychiatric wing-stepped out from behind the desk to talk to her.

"Look, this is a little embarrassing, but… Dr. Whale has gone missing." The nurse explained in a hushed tone.

"You mean you've lost the doctor? How is that even possible?" Now Emma was _really _annoyed, and she was making no attempt at hiding it.

"We're not exactly sure. He stayed late last night. Told me he had to catch up on some paperwork. I came in this morning like usual and asked around, but nobody has seen him." _Great. _Emma thought. _Now I've got a missing person and an accidental death to reopen. _

"Fine. I've got another case to handle first, but if you find him let me know. Meanwhile, can you point me towards the records room?" The nurse dutifully turned and led Emma off down a hallway, stopping at the very end of it.

"This is everything we've got. Take as much time as you need." With that the odd woman gave Emma the key to the room and returned to the front desk. Brushing off the strangeness of the encounter, Emma stuck the key into the slot, turned it, and opened the door.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The nurse who'd showed Emma to the room-McKenzie was her name-made her way back to her desk. It had been a long day, made even longer by the fact that she'd been doing both her job and Whale's. Now, she just wanted to be done. Alas, the giant stack of paperwork on her desk reminded her she couldn't be.

With a sigh she picked up the first few papers and started to sift through them. One was a bill, another a flyer, then another bill. She dutifully divided them into separate piles and picked up the next few. She was about to go through them when she heard some banging. _Great, _she thought. _Something else to deal with. _

She slammed the papers down on the desk and stood up, listening for the banging again. Within a few moments she'd heard it. Somewhere down the West Wing, she believed. Just her luck. The West Wing was the long abandoned area of the hospital that Dr. Whale now used for his "experiments". She, as head nurse, was one of the few who actually knew what the good doctor did in the night. She just hoped he hadn't gotten in over his head this time.

By then she'd reached the door to the West Wing, now certain that it was where the noise was coming from. She pulled the key out of her pocket and stuck it into the lock, pushing the door open a second later. With the door open the banging sounded much louder and entirely more intimidating.

_Oh well, I never did believe in ghost stories. _She tried to console herself with that thought as she cautiously made her way down the hallway. Soon, however, the banging was drowning out any inspirational words she might have to tell herself. Now it was just her and the noise.

Speaking of which, she'd finally reached the door where said noise was coming from… and it frightened her far more than she'd originally thought it would. It wasn't just the banging. It was the shaking. And the growling. And more than anything, the screaming. Nurse McKenzie realized a fraction of a second too late that whatever was on the other side of that door was decidedly unfriendly.

In one fluid motion the door was ripped off its hinges and thrown forward violently. It smashed into the nurse and threw her backwards against the opposite wall. A searing pain shot through her head, then traveled down her spine. McKenzie crumpled into a heap on the ground between the metal door and the wall.

_What the hell? _She thought, taking in her current situation. Her head whipped right, then left. Whatever was on the other side of that door was gone now. She braced her legs against the metal sheet and pushed hard, attempting to get it off of her.

She'd almost succeeded when a bloodied arm reached in through the right side and grabbed at her shirt. She panicked, then jolted to the left, toppling out from behind the protective metal door. Something lunged on top of her, tearing at her clothes. She screamed, writhing on the ground and kicking with all her might.

The nurse suddenly felt another large body on top of her, grabbing at her hair and yanking her head upwards. For a moment her eyes met with those of her employer, Dr. Whale. Only they were not his eyes. They were black and dark and soulless. She screamed as loud as she could, begging for them to let her go. She was still screaming when the good doctor slammed her head into the ground and she blacked out.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Emma felt like she'd been slamming her head against the wall for the better part of two hours. But even that would have been more productive than her search for the phantom file. Heaving a sigh she put the box she'd been holding down and made her way to the door.

"I need some coffee." She complained to no one in particular. Emma vaguely remembered seeing a machine down one of the hallways when she'd come in. Perhaps nurse McKenzie would be willing to go and get it for her.

Emma trudged to the end of the hallway, her high heeled boots clacking softly across the carpet. They weren't great for being stealthy, or running in for that matter, but boy were they stylish. Besides which, her duties as sheriff hadn't actually required all that much of her so far, so why should she worry?

By then she'd reached the end of the hallway and was pushing open the doors that led to the main rotunda. Straight ahead of her were the nurses' quarters, to her right was the main entrance and the patient bedrooms, and down the hall to the left was something called the "West Wing". Emma walked straight on into the nurses' station in hopes of finding nurse McKenzie.

_Strange… _Emma thought as she walked in. Nurse McKenzie wasn't there. That in itself wouldn't have been terribly odd, were it not for the fact that _nobody else _was there. Emma distinctly remembered at least three other nurses on call when she'd entered, and now they all seemed to have disappeared.

"Whatever." Emma said aloud, turning on her heels and leaving the nurses' station. She decided that the main entryway was her best bet for coffee, so she headed off in that direction. Emma breathed a sigh of relief when she saw it down the hallway a few moments later. Finally something was going right.

She inserted three quarters into the machine and waited as the steaming liquid poured into a styrofoam cup. It seemed to take an interminable amount of time… Emma busied herself by reading the information written across the shining machine in front of her, though she truly could have cared less about it.

_Made in Brazil. Fresh roasted daily. _She found that one hard to believe. _Fair trade for coffee farmers and… Oh my God! _Emma caught the reflection of someone-something-running up behind her. Instinctively she grabbed the searing hot cup of coffee and, spinning around, splashed it on her assailant.

The nurse-turned-zombie stopped for a moment, taking in the pain of having her flesh burnt. This gave Emma just enough time to dash past her and make a break for the exit. She was only a few feet away when another familiar face lumbered aggressively into her path. Dr. Whale.

"Whale?" She asked, unsure of what to make of the situation. Rather than responding, however, Whale lunged at her. Emma dropped to the ground, the doctor missing her by only a few feet. She pulled herself up as quickly as possible and dashed back the way she'd come, this time barely avoiding nurse McKenzie. She rounded the corner and smacked right into one of the other nurses.

"Oh thank God!" Emma exclaimed as she looked up. Suddenly her voice froze in her chest. The woman she'd bumped into wasn't a woman at all. She was a… a zombie. This time Emma couldn't help but scream.

With a shriek the savior backed away from the woman, straight into Dr. Whale's arms. She felt the teeth settle on her neck. She screamed again and ran her elbow into his ribcage, loosening his grip just enough for her to break free. Without looking back she dashed down the hallway and back to the records room, the zombies close behind.

She clicked the lock shut literally not a moment too soon. A mere second after she heard the pin slide into place she heard the zombies beating on the door. They wanted her… they wanted to kill her. But there was no time to dwell on that.

Emma carefully stuffed whatever fear she was feeling away as she took in her surroundings. The room was packed wall to wall with shelves full of boxes, save a small window in the far wall. A window that would have been her salvation were it not ten feet up and behind a shelf that was bolted into the wall.

"OK, Emma, you got this." She reassured herself as she moved to examine the bolts. They were rusty, and with the proper leverage… maybe those boots of hers would be useful for something after all. Emma heaved her leg up and slammed it down into the bolt, the heel making solid contact. As she'd hoped, the bolt snapped off.

Within two minutes she had all the bolts out of place and was pulling the bookshelf over, granting her access to the window. Unfortunately, it was also at this moment that zombies managed to gain access to the room. The door burst open, and for a moment all was still.

_Go. Now. _Everything inside of Emma was screaming it, and she knew she'd better listen if she wanted to survive. She pulled the gun out of its holster and fired three shots into the window, shattering the glass. This woke the zombies from their momentary stupor, however Emma was already ahead of them. She leapt onto a box and bounced off of it into the window. Something grabbed her by the ankle, but she kicked wildly and it released her. Not wasting a moment, she pulled herself to freedom and started running. She'd made it. She'd escaped.

There was too much flying through her mind at that point. She wanted to get to Henry, to her parents, to Neal. Even to Regina. _Regina. _Suddenly that thought took over her mind. Regina lived right across the street from the hospital. That's where the zombies would head first. Emma booked it to the front entrance, diving behind a potted plant when she got there. Sure enough, six zombies marched out of the hospital and began their journey to Regina's house. Emma pulled out her phone and dialed the first person that came to mind.

"Neal? It's Emma. Listen, something's… going on. Something strange. I need you to go pick up Henry and my mom from the school right now."

"Emma, are you alright?" Neal asked, genuinely concerned. As he spoke he picked up his keys and headed out to the car.

"No, I'm not alright. The town is under attack from… zombies."

"Zombies?" Neal asked, climbing into his car and starting it. He looked around nervously.

"Listen, I don't have time to explain right now. Just get those two and meet me at the apartment. And call Ruby. And Gold. And my dad. Get them all there as fast as possible."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to save the Evil Queen."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-Did you think they were gonna get Emma?**

**-What's that nurse's real name anyway?**

**-Who will be next?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Once Upon A Zombie**

"Alright kids, class dismissed!" Mary Margaret chirped happily a few moments after the school bell had rung. Friday was finally here and she could not be happier. A weekend at home by herself was just what the doctor ordered. And after all the craziness she'd been through in the last two years, she felt she deserved it.

"Ready to go, Grandma?" Henry asked, coming up beside her. They walked to and from school together, which meant that Henry often had to wait for a bit after class while Mary Margaret cleaned up.

"Just give me a minute, Henry. Can you help me pick up the snack area?" Mary Margaret asked. Henry obliged happily, collecting several discarded plastic cups and pitching them into the trash. Meanwhile Mary Margaret straightened up the papers on her desk and sorted them into piles.

Mary Margaret thought she heard some faint tapping somewhere in the distance, but dismissed it as a leaky pipe. Little did she know that at that very moment the door of the school was being beaten down.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Neal's heart was racing a mile a minute by the time he arrived at Storybrooke Elementary. Outwardly it appeared as though nothing was wrong, but that was usually how a crisis began in Storybrooke. It was the air of calmness about him that made Neal certain something was about to go terribly wrong.

For the moment, however, he couldn't afford to think like that. He had to find his kid and Mary Margaret. Once he got them safe he could freak out all he wanted. Taking a beat to compose himself, Neal turned the car off and got out, stepping into the cool morning air.

The front entrance electronically locked at the end of the school day, which meant Neal would have to go around back if he wanted to get in. He moved stealthily in that direction, keeping a lookout for any wayward zombies that might cross his path. Of course, it had occurred to him that Emma might be making the whole thing up… but even she wasn't that good of an actress.

Neal rounded the final corner at the back of the school and headed for the door… or rather, the place where the door used to be. Something, maybe some_thing_, had ripped it off its hinges and thrown it callously to the side. That was definitely not a good sign. Cursing himself for not bringing his gun, Neal cautiously moved into the building.

It wasn't a pretty sign. A good portion of the strobe lights had been ripped out of the ceiling, the now loose electrical wiring threatening to end Neal's life at any second. It appeared as though one or several of the desks had been used to beat down the second door, leaving piles of splintered wood around the room. Neal picked up a former chair leg and progressed through the second doorway.

He'd picked Henry up from school a few times before and was therefore familiar with the layout of the school. He knew, for instance, that Mary Margaret's classroom was at the far end of the east hall. He also knew that there were far more blind corners in the place than he was comfortable with, and that terrified him to no end.

Taking a breath and bracing himself for an attack, Neal rounded the first corner. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the coast was clear. One hallway down, two to go. The former con-man made his way down the adjoining hall, stopping at the end. There was a mirror in the corner where the two hallways intersected, and he intended to make full use of it.

After a few moments of careful observation, Neal concluded that it would be safe to progress. One hallway to go, and he was feeling pretty good. That really should have been the first indication that something was about to go terribly wrong. Unfortunately, Neal hardly had time to reach this conclusion before he was again at the end of a hallway.

Gripping the chair leg tightly between his fingers, he scooted around the corner and found... nothing. _Phew, _he thought, allowing his muscles to relax. Mary Margaret's classroom was at the end of the hallway, not forty feet ahead of him. He only made it ten.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Alright Henry, everything looks good in here. Ready to go?" Mary Margaret was, at that point, still oblivious to the armageddon raging on outside the school, and therefore sounded as sweet as usual. After two full weeks of staying behind for an extra half an hour every day, Henry was more than ready to leave. He threw on his backpack and trailed his grandmother to the door… until she stopped, frozen just inside the doorway.

"Grandma, what is i-" Mary Margaret's hand clamped tightly over Henry's mouth and cut him off. She motioned with her shoulder to the hallway that ran parallel to the classroom, and Henry peered around her and out into it. He fought hard to stifle the scream trying to escape his chest. It was Mother Superior. It was a zombie. He attempted to connect these two thoughts, arriving at the only possible conclusion: she was a zombie. The Blue Fairy was a zombie.

"Get the knife out of the top drawer of my desk, then get in the closet." Mary Margaret ordered in a harsh whisper, her eyes not leaving the undead former nun. Henry obediently and quietly made his way over to the desk and procured the rather large weapon. From there he slid silently into the closet, with his teacher/grandmother just behind him. She shut the door gently, bending down to look through the keyhole.

They'd made it not a moment too soon. Zombie Mother Superior staggered into the room just as undead as she had been in the hallway. She took in the room slowly, almost animal-like, before locking eyes on the far window which Mary Margaret had opened during class. _That window might just save us, _the teacher thought, poising her hand on the doorknob.

"As soon as I open the door, run. Don't stop. I'll be right behind you." She whispered to Henry. The child fought hard to suppress a whimper as he nodded. Mary Margaret, on the other hand, found the nerves of steel she'd cultivated back in the Enchanted Forest returning. That life and death adrenaline rush was a familiar feeling that had gotten her through more close calls than she cared to remember.

Her knuckles twisted around the knob and wrenched it to the side, disengaging the pin and sending the door flying open. Mary Margaret grabbed Henry by the collar and through him out into the room, dashing out a few seconds after. He just stood there stunned. _Move, dammit, move! _She looked to the right, seeing that Mother Superior had noticed them. The nun flung herself over the desk towards them.

Mary Margaret grabbed Henry only moments before Mother Superior would have, flinging him towards the classroom door. He seemed to finally awake from his stupor, breaking into a dash down the hallway. His grandmother was only a few paces behind him, with the Blue Fairy-zombie only a short distance behind her.

Henry rounded the corner, tripping on something large. He flew forward, smacking his jaw on the ground. Mary Margaret deftly jumped over it, peering back for only a moment to see what it was. Another zombie. It appeared as though someone had beaten it with something, but she didn't have enough time to investigate. It would have to wait for another time.

With unimaginable strength she heaved her grandson to his feet and screamed at him to keep running. Blue was now only a few yards behind, and was gaining fast. _One more corner… one more. _Mary Margaret recited this to herself as she and Henry rounded into the final hallway. The double doors of the front entrance were just a few short feet away. They were going to make it. They had to make it.

Suddenly something leapt out of a classroom directly into their path. They were too close. Henry slammed straight into the figure, which wrapped its arms violently around him and hoisted him off the ground. The child screamed for help, for mercy, for whatever he could think of. And then the figure spoke.

"Henry…" Henry knew the voice all too well, and suddenly the screaming stopped and the tears began.

"Dad!" Henry half-whimpered, returning the hug he'd been forced into originally. They embraced for a moment, Neal awkwardly attempting to comfort his son. Thankfully, at least to Neal's mind, Mary Margaret was there to break up the odd moment.

"I hate to put the kibosh on this bonding, but we've really got to go!" She said, stealing a glance backwards. Blue was now at the end of the hallway and gaining on them fast. Neal dropped Henry to the ground, took his hand, and ran. Mary Margaret was at their side, and within a few moments they were rounding the corner into the parking lot.

"Get in!" Neal shouted, running around to the driver's side and hitting the unlock button. Henry and Mary Margaret leapt into the back seat, slamming the door shut not a moment too soon. Mother Superior slammed into it, breaking the glass in the window and reaching a spindly zombie arm in. Mary Margaret delivered a quick slice from her knife and the arm recoiled.

Neal fumbled with the keys, finally making his shaking hands fit the key into the slot. A second later the car roared to life and they were off, safe at last. It wasn't time to relax just yet, however, because Mary Margaret still had one question that needed answering.

"Neal, where's my daughter?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

In the end, Emma figured the safest way into the mayor's mansion was the backdoor, the hidden key for which she'd found on her third day in Storybrooke. She picked up the rock it was hiding under and removed the false bottom, fishing the key out. Silently she fit it into the slot and unlocked the door.

It creaked painfully open, Emma cringing at all the noise it made. If these were anything like the zombies she'd seen in countless movies, they probably hunted more by sound than anything else. Much to her relief, the door was finally open enough for her to slip into the house. She did so silently and found herself standing in the middle of the mayor's kitchen.

"Regina?" She whispered, taking in the room. A single broken bulb hung from the ceiling, and there was no light to speak of anywhere else in the house. The table was overturned, and a few of the chairs looked as though they'd been flung across the room. This told Emma two things: the zombies were in the house, and Regina had been fighting the.

When no answer came, Emma decided that she'd head to the bedrooms next. Henry's had that large tree outside, which offered a fairly easy means of escape. If Regina had any sense, that's where she would be.

Sheriff Swan crept silently through the house, careful to avoid the floorboards she knew were creaky; after two years of psychological warfare with the mayor, Emma knew the house better than Regina herself… Which, she supposed, came in handy during things like zombie apocalypses.

Emma made it to the stairs without incident, which was fairly impressive all things considered. The steps, she knew, were unavoidably creaky. Her only shot would be to dash up them as fast as possible… which worked until she hit the ninth step and a spindly zombie arm flew up from the side and grabbed her ankle.

Emma couldn't help but let out a small yell as she was dragged back down the stairs. She flipped around and kicked blindly at her attacker who, as it turned out, was once again Whale. Was he obsessed with her or something? She managed to connect her now ultra-useful high heels with his jaw, snapping it out of alignment and loosening his grip on her ankle. With the railings help she got up and was able to deliver another kick to his jugular, sending him flying back down the stairs.

By now she'd given up all pretenses of stealthiness and began a mad dash up the stairs to find Regina. She hooked left at the top towards Henry's room, the door to which, she discovered, seemed to have been bolted shut from the inside.

"Regina, if you're in there, it's me. Emma." Suddenly the Sheriff caught sight of another zombie emerging from Regina's bedroom. One of the nurses. "Let me in now!" She screamed, banging on the door with one hand and unholstering her gun with the other. She hated the idea of killing one of… one of them, but she had no other choice.

She emptied the gun into the zombie, which slunk to the ground, dead. Unfortunately, Emma realized, it already _was _dead, and no amount of gunshots would change that. The nurse collected itself, raising onto one leg, then the other.

"Regina, now!" She yelled, pounding again and looking back at the zombie woman… the zombie woman who was now slowly making her way to Emma. Suddenly the Sheriff heard a lock click behind her and the door opening. Without another moment of hesitation she flung herself in, kicking the door shut with her foot. The zombie hit it not two seconds later.

"I'm sorry, Miss Swan, I thought you were..." Regina stole a glance at the door. "Someone else." The mayor/Queen offered Emma a hand, which was graciously accepted, and helped the savior to her feet.

"It's fine. I just wanted to make sure you were OK. Henry would never forgive me if I let anything happen to you." Regina chose to let the latter half of the comment slide, focusing instead on the good part.

"You came back... for me?" She asked, a bit stunned.

"Of course. We're family. But now we've got to get out of here." Emma said decisively, walking over to the window. As she'd remembered, the tree was directly outside. She waved Regina over to help her and within a few moments the window slid open. "After you." Emma said, gesturing grandly.

Regina threw one leg over the side, grabbed onto a tree branch for support, then swung out with the other leg. Now it was Emma's turn.

The savior was about to follow Regina's lead when something grabbed her from behind. Instinctively, Emma spun around and punched her assailant in the face, sending who she now knew to be Dr. Whale sprawling backwards. As he got to his feet, Emma began backing towards the window.

"Watch out!" Regina shouted. But it was too late. Emma bumped backwards into the window frame, lost her balance, and tumbled out of Henry's bedroom. For a moment, she was just falling. Falling and screaming and flailing her hands wildly. She was thoroughly convinced she was about to die when something grabbed one of those hands and abruptly stopped her descent.

Emma looked up a moment later to see just what was it that had saved her life. Her breath caught in her chest when she did, however. Because it had been her. Regina. Regina Mills had just saved Emma Swan's life. If that wasn't a sign of the apocalypse, nothing was.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-Had you going there with Neal, didn't I…**

**-Is the Blue Fairy as useless as she always seems?**

**-Who will be next?**

Sound off in the comments!


	4. Chapter 4

**Once Upon A Zombie**

Exactly forty-five minutes after the initial attack on the Hospital, more than eighty percent of the town had been infected. Those townsfolk lucky enough to survive that first hour soon gathered in the relative safety of the Charming apartment, where Mary Margaret's vast armory was housed.

Emma and Regina were the last to arrive, straggling in sometime around two p.m. There were both bruised and bloodied, and Emma had a bad rash starting on her neck from where Whale had nearly bitten her. Luckily he hadn't broken the skin, or she'd of been turned into one of them as well. Regina, for her part, had been forced to use both her shoes as projectiles and was severely scratched up from their escape through the tree.

Henry flung himself at them the moment they stepped through the door, attempting to distribute his hug evenly between his two mothers. After all, Regina really was trying to be a better person… and he couldn't keep punishing her forever.

"Henry!" They both shouted in unison, more relieved than they thought possible at the sight of their shared-child. It was an odd arrangement to be sure, but what in Storybrooke wasn't odd?

Looking up from her son's face, Emma surveyed the room in front of her and counted the survivors. Besides Henry, there were eight others. A night earlier and there had been a whole town… now there were only eleven people still alive in Storybrooke. It made her want to cry, but she choked back her tears and forced herself to take in the state of the survivors.

Emma gasped a sigh of relief when she saw her parents. Charming and Mary Margaret had been in the armory in the adjoining room, but their faces lit up when they walked out and saw their daughter. They ran to her and, for a moment, Emma felt like things were ok… but then she remembered that they were not. They were so far from it.

The next person she saw was Neal, who looked a little worse for the ware. He was laying on the bed located next to the kitchen and wheezing slightly. Emma broke away from her parents and walked over to him.

"Neal…" She said, unsure of what else she _should _say. They hadn't exactly been on great terms recently, and with the sudden onslaught of zombies into the town they hadn't had a lot of time to talk. She took his hand hesitantly. "Thank you for getting them. I don't know what I would have done if…" She trailed off.

"Emma, it's no problem. Remember, Henry's my son too. I'm just…" There was an awkward moment of silence. "I'm just glad you're alright." With that he swung his legs around and set up next to her on the side of the bed.

"I'm… I'm glad you're alright too." She said, hating every moment of their emotional interchange. She found it best to change the subject. "Now, what are we going to do about the hordes of zombies beating down our doors and stealing our bodies?" She said, unable to suppress a snicker. It sounded just as crazy as she'd thought it would.

"I don't know. Before we do anything you should see who you've got to work with as troops." Neal said, sweeping his arm towards the rest of the people in the room.

"Troops?" Emma asked skeptically.

"Yeah. Emma, whether you like it or not, you've got to lead these people." He said decisively, his eyes looking intensely into hers. She hated the idea, of course, of leading everyone… but she _was _the savior, so who else was going to get them out of this?

Sighing, Emma stood up to finish her inspection of the "troops", as Neal had so eloquently put it. She found Gold next, leaning up against one of the pillars and watching Henry talk with his grandparents. His _other _grandparents. His had to be the most walked out family tree of all time.

Minus a few scrapes and bruises, Gold didn't seem too bad off. The cane, of course, limited his mobility, but his abilities with magic would more than compensate for that. He could, she supposed, be of some major use in that department…

Lost in thought, Emma turned around and literally smacked into the last person she would have expected: Captain Hook. He flashed her one of his patented grins as she stared dumbly.

"Hook? I didn't know you were… back in town." She said stupidly, trying already to gain the advantage in their conversation.

"Yes love, and it seems I've come at just the right time to have my brains eaten out." He said cavalierly. Emma hated that he was joking at a time like this. It was so… so… so like him. And that really annoyed her.

"Hook, I don't know what you think you want in Storybrooke, but… Please, just work with us. I hate to say it, but we need you." She said, relinquishing her aura of superiority. Now she was just a desperate girl with a whole town to save… again.

"Look, love, I know there's been some bad blood between us in the past, but I came here to help. I'm behind you 100% of the way." Emma tried hard to find even a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but couldn't. He was being honest, and that really threw the savior off her game.

"Well… thank you." It was all she could manage. "Now, who else is here?" She changed the subject, peering around him to see into the kitchen.

"You've already seen your parents, your son, the queen, the crocodile, your lover…" This earned him a not-friendly-at-all punch to the shoulder. He chuckled and continued through the list. "That Ruby girl is here with some old woman."

That was when Ruby and Granny descended the stairs, crossbows and red hoods in tow. Ruby was somehow still in one of her all too skimpy outfits, but Emma could see she'd been put through the ringer. Her hair appeared to have been singed off at places, and there was a long gash running from the top of her leg to her knee.

Granny had somehow morphed back into Widow Lucas; tough, unafraid, and ready for anything. It was what Emma most admired and most feared about the woman... Then Hook's voice suddenly pulled her back to reality.

"That about rounds out this motley crew, except for that Belle girl. The crocodile's 'true love'. Not all that attractive if you ask me." Hook said, earning yet another punch from Emma. Belle, at that moment, was at Neal's side, tending to his multiple injuries… which was appropriate because, at least in a way, he was sort of like her son. But even Emma found that thought too unsettling, so she changed the subject.

"So, that's everyone?" Emma asked Hook. The pirate captain nodded then walked off, leaving Emma to ponder her next move. Eleven… Eleven people against a whole town of zombies. How in the world were they going to do this?

"Alright everyone," Emma yelled, catching the room's attention. They all stared at Emma. "Circle up in the kitchen. We need to make a plan." She said decisively. Within a few moments all eleven of them were gathered around the island in the kitchen, all eyes focused once again on Emma.

"There's only one solution." Regina said, startling everyone. "We have to kill them all." There were looks of confusion, nods of approval… anything but a consensus!

"No!" Belle, for some inexplicable reason the only Australian in the Enchanted Forest, spoke up. Regina rolled her eyes at this predictable girl's predictable answer.

"Regina's right, mates. The only way any of us come out of this alive is if we cut our loses and run for it." Hook said, nodding at Regina.

"We can't do that, mom. Those people are our friends. _Your _friends." Henry spoke up, appearing at Regina's side. She put a protective hand on his shoulder.

"Henry, I'm just trying to do what's best for you." She said, trying to win him back. The last thing she wanted was to alienate her son… again.

"I know. But you always do it the wrong way. If there's even a chance to save them, we have to try." Henry said, that annoying Charming Family perseverance exposing itself.

"What do you suggest, Henry? As far as I remember there aren't any zombie stories in that story book." Emma said, taking a long hard look at her son. He thought for a moment, speechless.

"Wait!" All eyes moved to Ruby, whose sudden outburst had shocked them all. "Belle, are there any books from our world at the library?" The librarian gave her a short, curious look before responding.

"Yes, but…" Suddenly it dawned on Belle what she was saying. "You want to know if anything like this ever happened in our world." Ruby nodded. "Well if it did it's in one of those books. But how do you suggest we get to the library?"

"Now wait just a minute, dearies. We can't be sure there's going to be any book of that sort there, and then where will we be?" Gold asked.

"He's right." It was Neal who spoke this time, hating to admit his father was right but doing so anyway. He wasn't willing to let his pride keep him from speaking up. "We need to come up with a back up plan."

"The hospital." All eyes turned to Emma as she spoke. "This whole thing started at the hospital, and I'm betting I know who with."

"Whale…" Regina said, realization suddenly dawning on her. Of course! It was just like what had been done to Daniel, except this was way, way worse. She would have killed him if he wasn't already undead.

"Exactly. Something he did must have caused all this. One of his experiments, like with Daniel." Emma braced herself for the reaction that would surely come to what she said next. "I think we need to split up."

"Split up!" Charming yelled, outraged. After everything they'd been through, all the times he'd been separated from his family, there was no way he was going to lose them again. Not this time.

"Listen, Dav-er, Dad." Emma said awkwardly, trying to reason with her father. "There's only one version of this story where we all get out alive, and it requires us finding a cure. Now I'm usually as against splitting up as you are, but there's no other way." David grabbed Mary Margaret's hand, but other than that he was quiet for the moment.

"So then… it's decided?" Ruby asked cautiously. All their nerves were frayed and she was afraid of stirring up any more trouble.

"Yes. We're splitting up. Either we all get through this or none of us do." Emma said, opening a drawer in the kitchen island next to her and pulling out ten skewers. She took a knife and cut seven of the skewers in half. She then repeated this action with four of the cut skewers, giving her three unique groups.

"What are those for?" Charming asked, a bit irritated at Emma's cryptic actions.

"Drawing straws, sort of. To see who goes where to get what."

"But why three groups. It's either the library or the hospital. You only need two."

"No. It's either the library, the hospital, or staying here with Henry. We need three." At this Henry irritatingly piped up, as usual, about how he was brave and wasn't going to be sidelined again. The usual ten year old spiel. "Look, kid," Emma said, reverting to the tone she'd used when she'd first met her son. "I'm your mother, and it's my job to keep you safe. Regina would do the same."

Emma looked to the mayor for help, and Regina nodded her consent. For once they were on the same side of an issue, which told Henry one thing: he'd better not argue. Pouting and defeated he stepped behind Emma as she handed out the sticks.

Gold was first, picking one of the three middle sized ones. Charming and Neal both picked the long ones. Belle, Ruby, and Hook all ended up with short ones, followed by Mary Margaret with a medium sized one. Granny ended up with a long. Finally Regina picked. The last short one. Which left Emma going with her mother and Gold.

"Perfect," Emma lied. It wasn't perfect, but there was no time to argue. "Belle, Ruby, Hook, and Regina will go to the library and find the book." Gold attempted to protest Hook and Belle going together, but thought better of it; the girl he loved wouldn't appreciate his interference at a time like this.

"Now, Mary Margaret and Gold will come with me to the hospital. I still have the key the nurse gave me, which should get us down into the basement. That leaves Neal, Charming, and Granny here with Henry." There were grumbles from the crowd, but no serious objections were raised. It wasn't perfect, but the arrangement would have to do. "Alright everyone, ten minutes, then we move."

The eleven gathered there dispersed into different regions of the house, leaving Belle and Gold alone for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Listen, Rumple, I…" Belle trailed off, for once at a loss for words. "Just don't worry about me, OK? We'll get out of this. We always do." She was fighting hard to keep the tears from her eyes. They'd just been through so much… too much to let it end now.

"Belle… In case I don't see you again before all this is over, just remember: you're so much braver than I ever could be. You make me want to be… to be different. And I… well, you told me once you believed in me. So I'm telling you now that _I _believe in _you_ and-" Belle broke off his words with a kiss.

"I'll be seeing you soon, alright?" She said, smiling slightly.

"Yes, yes. That'd be good." He said, returning the grin with a small chuckle.

They embraced one last, passionate time before finally standing up and heading to the door where the others were waiting for them. Belle sidled up next to Ruby, the Evil Queen, and Hook, while Gold took his place with Mary Margaret and Emma. Each group was laden down with weapons, and Neal was standing by with Henry to see them off.

"Everyone ready?" Emma asked, not herself sure if _she _was ready. The six others gathered around her nodded their assent, and began to file out the door, an air of dread hanging about them. Emma, however, lingered a moment, seemingly caught between her duties to the town and her desire to stay with Henry. Yet somewhere in her heart she kept the knowledge that, if Henry was going to survive this, Emma would have to say goodbye for now.

With one last glance back at her father, potential love interest, and son, Emma Swan stepped out the door and was plunged back into the fray.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-Was it bad parenting for Emma and Regina to leave Henry?**

**-Is Granny an awesome character or a useless one?**

**-Neal: Good parent or bumbling idiot?**

**-Who will be next?**

Sound off in the comments!


	5. Chapter 5

**Once Upon A Zombie**

Emma found the situation less than optimum. Her mother was certainly tough… or at least, tough enough. But neither of them were well equipped to lug around a man with a cane during a full on zombie attack. Still, there wasn't really time to figure out another situation. They had to get to the hospital and find something-anything-that Dr. Whale might have left.

It was easier said than done, however, with the threat of a zombie attack lurking around every corner. Emma and Mary Margaret found themselves losing their nerves and jumping at shadows. Gold called on the cold indifference he'd cultivated over a life of hardship to see him through it; everyone has their own ways of coping during a crisis.

"The hospital is a mile away." Emma said decisively, though she wasn't quite sure how that information helped them… She reached for the only thought that she could find. "We need a car."

"Yes dearie, now we have a firm grasp of the obvious." Gold said, obnoxious as ever. Clearly not even the apocalypse could stop that. Emma shrugged it off and turned to her mother for help.

"She's right, Gold. My car's a few blocks away, so we'll have to take Neal's." Mary Margaret said, pointing across the street to the car that had saved them at the school. Emma, having anticipated this possible outcome, produced the keys.

"Well then dearies, shall we?" Gold said, sweeping his arm in the direction of Neal's car. With a few nervous glances around Emma lead the way across the street, breathing a silent sigh of relief as they reached the car. Once her passengers were loaded in she started the engine and headed off towards the hospital… towards where it all began.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No more than six minutes after they'd left, Regina's group was in turmoil. Of course, what else was to be expected when you put four of Storybrooke's most stubborn and unflinching personalities in one group? Hook and Regina alone would have been a mess, but throw in Belle and Ruby…

Regina couldn't afford to think about it. There was too much to be done to spend her time worrying about who she was with and how they were going to get things done. She'd lead a town for twenty eight years, and if she'd learned one thing it was this: delegation was key to successful leadership.

They were at the doorway to the apartment complex when she snapped back into reality, having formulated a plan that she found satisfactory. Hook and Ruby were arguing, and Belle was looking out the door absentmindedly, clutching one of the few books she'd managed to grab before she and Rumple had escaped the zombies… which begged the question of _how _exactly they had escaped.

"...and you can't just march back into town in the middle of a crisis and expect to take over!" Ruby shouted at Hook, who was brandishing his claw menacingly at the girl. It would have been a surreal sight had they lived in any other part of the world. In Storybrooke, however, it was par for the course.

"Listen up everyone, your queen has thought of a plan." Regina said, her voice taking on the dark tinge it used to have during her Enchanted Forest days. It was just as well… to survive she'd need to be ruthless.

"What's your plan, madam mayor?" Ruby asked, making the last two words as sarcastic as possible. She resented Regina to no end for using the words "your queen" and intended to make her feelings more than apparent. Regina just shrugged it off and continued.

"My plan? It's quite simple, dear. Belle will lead us." A round of gasps escaped everyone's lips as Regina locked eyes with her former prisoner-turned-unexpected heroine. No one there was more shocked than Belle herself, who was still clutching her book and staring at Regina.

"Me? You can't be serious." Belle said, stealing a glance through the glass window at the street outside. It was quiet… probably too quiet for Storybrooke.

"Yes, dear, you. You know that library better than anyone, so you should be the one to lead us to it. Get us to the library, and get us a book that will solve this mess. But leave that book here, perhaps?" Regina said decisively, challenging Hook and Ruby to come up with a better plan.

"No. you never know when a book's going to come in handy." Belle said, a bit of pride creeping into her voice… soon, however, Hook's voice was drowning her's out.

"Look, love, I know you think you're helping us out here, but-" Hook began to voice his disapproval when Ruby cut in.

"Look here, Hook. Belle's more of a hero than you'll ever be. If anyone can get us through this she can." Ruby said, getting as close to Hook's face as she felt comfortable with. He really was sort of attractive… but she didn't have time to think that way.

"Now alright everyone, just calm down. I will do this. I will get us there." Belle said, hushing her companions. Hook didn't know if it was the accent or the fact that she suddenly appeared far fiercer than she ever had before, but for some reason he felt it best not to argue any more. He shrugged and motioned for her to lead the way… which is where Belle got lost.

"All right, then… the library's only a block away, but it's better to be safe. We need a car or something." Belle looked around from Ruby to Hook to Regina, and all of them shook their heads. Clearly finding a car would be more difficult than she'd thought. "Well then, perhaps this will be more of a chore than I expected…"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

By some miracle, Emma, her mother, and Mr. Gold made it to the hospital basement in one piece. They'd fought off engine failure, zombified Dr. Hopper, and more than a few evil dalmatians to get there, but they were alive. For the moment, that would have to be enough.

"Emma, what exactly are we looking for?" Her mother asked, poking through the wreckage of the hallway. There were several steel doors at each end that looked as though they'd been ripped off their hinges. Whatever these things were, they were strong.

There was also blood. More blood than Mary Margaret was comfortable being around for very long-which was saying something for a former warrior princess. She wanted to get out of there. She wanted to get back to her family. She wanted this whole mess to be over with. But wishing wouldn't get anything done; now was the time to steel her nerves and hunker down for the long haul.

"Look, if that records room earlier today was any indication, Whale takes very studious notes. I'm thinking he's got to have some sort of top secret journal down here that details what he did-how he caused all this." Emma explained, pulling out her gun. It was hard to tell what dangers may lurk around the next corner.

Mary Margaret shared a concerned glance with Gold, but neither of them said anything to Emma. After all, she was the Savior… if anyone could get them out of this alive, it was Emma Swan.

"Mom, you search the cupboards. Gold, help me look through all… this." Emma motioned with her arms to the pile of rubble beneath their feet. Gold gave her a somewhat nasty glance before bending down and plowing through the mess. It would take forever at this rate. And Gold had been patient long enough.

"Step aside, Dearies." Gold said, motioning for the two women to step out of the room. They did so a bit annoyedly, leaving Gold to do whatever he planned to.

"Gold, what are you-" Emma's criticism was cut short as Gold snapped his fingers and a silver dust began to fill the room. It moved around like liquid, searching through all the nooks and crannies, digging beneath the mess. It finally all seemed to concentrate in one area near the laboratory table. Gold looked at Emma cockily as he motioned to the place.

Emma, who was at that point still fairly confused as to what she'd actually just witnessed, stooped down and dug through the pile, her hands finally coming to rest on an old leather bound notebook covered in the silver dust. She pulled it from the wreckage and blew the dust off of it as her mother and Mr. Gold sidled up beside her. She cautiously opened it to the last page that had been written on.

_Patient appears to be fully revived. Procedure has stuck. Magic and science…_

_ After several other failures, latest "project" seems to be taking. Must make further observations…_

_ Tweaking my experiment, I hope to improve upon the near success of last time… Patient seems to be fully revived. Full mobility returned to limbs. Await to see full recovery. Cognitive response isn't great just yet… _

"That's the end." Emma said, closing the book and putting it down on the desk next to her. She shared a look with her mother, who was shaking her head.

"So then, it's magic and science. What does that mean for us?" Mary Margaret asked, directing her question at Mr. Gold.

"Nothing good, dearie. Nothing good."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"What are we looking for, Miss French?" Regina Mills asked, pushing open the doors of the library. She'd agreed to take the lead, with Belle and Ruby behind her. Hook had graciously volunteered to stand at the back, a refreshing turn from his self-preserving nature.

"A book. It's like Ruby said. There's got to be something here that will give us a clue as to how we can help these people." Belle said, sweeping her arms out in front of her. The library was enormous, far larger than the one Rumpelstiltskin had given her back in the Enchanted Forest. It could take them forever to find what they needed…

"Well then, it appears as though we're going to need to split up." Hook said, closing the doors tightly behind him. Belle locked them with her key before turning to the group.

"No. We have to stay together. Being alone gets you killed." Ruby was arguing. It was a valid point, but they didn't have the time to play it safe. They'd either take the risk and find out how to save everyone or die trying.

"Hook's right, Ruby. This library's too big for us all to search in one group. There are four of us, so let's all take a section. Ruby, romance is to the left. Hook, take the adventure section. Regina, autobiographies are up the stairs."

"And where exactly will you be searching, miss French?" The mayor asked.

"There's a collection of books that were carried here from our land by the curse. I'm going to look through those." Belle said. This seemed to satisfy the mayor, who trudged off dutifully up the stairs.

Belle, for her part, made her way to the secondary staircase, which led to a small room at the bottom of the library. This is where all the books from the Enchanted Forest had been housed until Emma Swan broke the curse.

The Librarian knew this set of books well, and as such knew which ones contained stories and which ones contained actual historical records. Of the record books, only five had sections on medicinal remedies and diseases, and of those five only three were truly reputable (at least by Belle's standards).

She grabbed those three off the shelf and returned to the main lobby of the library, where she found Ruby waiting for her.

"I struck out in romance. Nothing there that's gonna help us with a zombie outbreak." The wolf woman reported, taking one of the books from Belle's hand. Hook joined them a moment later, followed by Regina. Belle divided up the books accordingly.

"Right. We need to search through these three books. See if anything pops up-words, illustrations, anything that could give us a clue."

"Would this count?" Hook asked, passing her the book he'd been holding. There was a picture of what appeared to be a walking corpse approaching a village. It had a ring of familiarity to it… almost exactly like the zombies that had attacked them earlier that day. "It's in another language, love." Hook said once she'd finished examining the picture.

Belle looked to the top of the page to confirm what he'd said. It was an ancient dialect that the Dwarves had spoken long ago. It had barely survived, and now only a few dwarf elders knew how to read it. Luckily, Belle's father had once made a deal with one of those dwarf elders, and from him Belle had learned enough of the language to translate it.

"I trust you can read this?" Regina asked, giving Belle a skeptical look. Belle barely had time to nod before something began pounding on the library door.

Wolf instincts taking over, Ruby was there first, looking through the cracks to see if it was friend or foe. Her breath caught in her chest when she saw that it was Whale… her Whale… only now, of course, he was Zombie Whale.

No sooner had she digested this information than the doors were being blown open by the raw strength of the newly transformed Whale. Ruby was blown back across the room, taking Hook down with her. Regina summoned what magic she could, intending to blast the creature to kingdom come… except that he was already dead. Nothing Regina did could hurt him now.

"Don't hurt him!" Ruby cried, picking herself up off the floor and approaching her zombified Doctor friend. "Whale, I know you're in there. Can you… can you hear me?" Ruby asked sheepishly, unsure of proper etiquette when talking to zombies.

"Ruby, I think you should get away from him." Belle said, inching closer to her friend. Whale was sizing her up, assessing her possibility as both a threat and a food source. Belle was only a few feet away by the time he'd decided on the latter.

Seeing the look in his eyes, the librarian instinctively launched herself in front of Ruby just as Whale lunged forward for the attack. Belle was vaguely aware of something touching her before she hit the ground with a thud, the world turning sideways as she did so. From this distorted view she could see Hook tackle Whale and shove him backwards into the elevator. Regina summoned her magic and slammed the doors shut, trapping the angry zombie inside.

Ruby was at her side then, pulling her to her feet and looking her up and down. Hook and Regina were barricading the doors with bookshelves as more zombies appeared on the street outside.

"Belle, are you alright?" Ruby asked. Belle nodded-she tried to nod, at least. Her mind was still very fuzzy. _Something _had happened to her. She was suddenly very aware of pain in her arm. She turned it over and examined it. Her breathing stopped. So did Ruby's. It had gotten her. The zombie had gotten Belle.

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-What will happen to dear Belle?**

**-Why has Gold never healed his limp? **

**-Who do you ship Hook with?**

**-Who will be next?**

Sound off in the comments!


	6. Chapter 6

**Once Upon A Zombie**

"Neal, find something to block the door with." Neal obliged to Granny's request, positioning himself behind the bed. Bracing himself on the wall he pushed off, moving the metal frame away from the window and directing it towards the door. With some assistance from Henry he was able to position it so as to prevent the door from being broken down.

"Thanks, Henry." Neal said awkwardly, still unsure of how to talk to his own son… things had been awkward between him and Emma, and Hook's reappearance in Storybrooke wasn't making matters any better. Though they both refused to admit to it, there was an unspoken attraction between the savior and the pirate.

"No problem, dad." Henry said. The word "dad" sent chills down Neal's spine, and he wasn't exactly sure why. He didn't have the time to figure it out right then, so he set the thought aside for later.

"Alright, Granny, the door's blocked, locked, and bolted. What's next?" Neal asked, joining the old woman next to the window. She was staring out the window. Following her gaze, Neal saw what had grabbed her attention so fully: the streets below were swarming with zombies as far as the eye could see. Emma and the others had gotten out just in time; any later and they would have been killed immediately.

"Where's the Prince?" Granny asked, her eyes locking with Neal's. He was slightly taken aback to see this seemingly frail old woman wash all the emotion out of her eyes to do what she had to. There was some hidden strength in her that one couldn't expect or understand unless they'd seen it first hand.

As if in response to her question Charming emerged from the back room laden down with any number of weapons. Henry watched awestruck as the man he'd always known as David Nolan seamlessly transformed back into the warrior Prince Charming.

Granny already had her signature cross bow at the ready, but the three men had been unprepared for the sudden zombie onslaught. Thankfully Mary Margaret had managed to build up a fairly formidable armory since her memories had been returned. Charming now carried with him several swords and some smaller knives. Mary Margaret had taken the bow and arrow, leaving them without the long range weaponry they needed.

Charming handed off a sword and a knife to Neal, who thrust them both through his belt loops. It wasn't a perfect way to carry them, but it would have to do. Charming's old sword from the Enchanted Forest was at his side, ready for anything. Now the Prince crossed to Henry, who was seated on the bed near the door.

"Henry," Charming began, putting a sword across the child's lap. "Do you remember when Mary Margaret and Emma were trapped in our land?" Henry nodded that he did, of course. "I'd hoped you'd never have to do this, but when they were gone and I taught you to use a sword, it was for a time such as this." Henry now understood what he was getting at.

"You're telling me to use this if I have to."

"Yes, but only if it's absolutely necessary." Charming said, closing his hand over Henry's. For a moment the four people simply sat there, ruminating over the situation they found themselves in, as well has how in the world they were going to get out of it. For one glorious moment, all was silent. And then all hell broke loose.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Two minutes after Charming gave the sword to Henry the front door was broken down and the four were trapped in the bathroom. A gash across Charming's leg was gushing blood at an alarming rate, and Neal had been knocked unconscious after hitting his head on the bedpost while defending Henry.

Henry took in the whole thing as though he were watching it through a television screen. There was no way this was happening. Not now, not to him. Not to his family, who he'd only just found. He just couldn't take it in.

Granny was braced up against the door, trying desperately to keep it shut against the throngs of monsters attempting to gain access to the room and kill them. That frail old woman was the only thing standing between them and certain death.

Henry gripped the hilt of his sword tensely, feeling as though letting go of it would be the death of him. He looked at Charming, who was doing the same despite his injury. Granny could tell by looking at the man that he wouldn't last long without medical attention. Perhaps three more hours before falling unconscious, then another hour before he completely bled out. Granny wanted to put a tourniquet around it, but she couldn't leave the door.

"Henry, you need to wake your father up. Now." Granny instructed, slamming her shoulder into the door again to get it shut. She sliced at some fingers slipping around the sides to do this. She was no longer herself; she couldn't be if she was going to survive. She'd become a more primal, violent version of herself. Someone who would live no matter what the cost.

"Dad." Henry said cautiously, climbing into the bathtub where his unconscious father was slumbering. Granny had checked the place where he'd hit his head and knew he wasn't bleeding, which meant the injury wasn't life threatening… although if he didn't wake up soon it could become so.

Henry looked around desperately for something to help him. Some smelling salts, old socks, anything. He looked to Charming, but his grandfather was lost inside of himself. The older man was trying to keep it together. Trying to stay conscious. Trying to protect his family. He would be no help to Henry until he helped himself.

Finally Henry's eyes fell on the faucet located above Neal's head. It wasn't the most graceful way to wake someone up, but it would have to do. Henry turned the faucet all the way to the right, allowing a flood of freezing water to rain down onto his father. It hit him squarely in the face.

The effect was both instantaneous and as desired: Neal shot straight up once he felt the water, jolted awake by the shockingly cold water. He whipped his head back and forth and took in the scene around him.

Henry was sitting on his lap, smiling like a maniac. He guessed that it was his son who'd managed to awaken him. Granny was standing next to the door with her shoulder pressed squarely into it. Most likely, he postulated, she was the one who'd kept them all alive once he'd fallen unconscious. Finally his eyes found Charming, who looked more than a little worse for the wear… He'd have to be helped soon.

After a few moments Henry climbed off of his father, allowing Neal to stand up and get out of the bathtub. His first concern was Charming's leg, which was slowly pumping out blood. Granny would have to be the one to fix it, which would mean Neal would have to assume control of the door situation.

"Henry, come help me with this." Neal said, standing next to Granny and taking the weight of the door against his shoulder. He was immediately shocked by the intensity of the pressure from the other side and couldn't help but wonder how the older woman had managed by herself. Even with Henry it was a struggle for Neal.

"Thank you." Granny said, rubbing her sore shoulder. Even as she did this she was ripping the shower curtain down and making plans to transform it into a tourniquet for Charming. She tore it into strips and sized them up against each other, trying to find the perfect one. She settled on what she thought to be the right size and pulled an arrow out of her crossbow. She was now ready.

A few moments later Charming had been adequately tourniqueted, which Granny was glad of. They couldn't afford to have him out of commission if they were going to make it through this alive.

"Charming's alright now… well, more alright. But that doesn't solve our biggest problem." Granny said, turning to Neal. He tried to look at her, but most of his and Henry's attention was focused on keeping the door closed.

"Well clearly this isn't working." Charming chimed in, attempting to pull himself out of his stupor. "We need to get out of this bathroom." He motioned towards the window behind them.

"We thought about that… but if we step foot on the street down there we'll be killed. There's no possibility of leaving that way."

"Well we can't very well stay here." Charming said, his temper flaring. This old woman's stubbornness was starting to annoy him.

"Well we're certainly not going down there!" She shouted back, pointing out the window. Suddenly they both found themselves screaming at each other, neither one willing to back down. Finally it was Henry who resolved the situation.

"What if we go up?" The child asked. The other two quieted down and looked at him questioningly.

"What?" They asked in unison.

"Well we can't go down, and we can't stay here. So let's go up." Henry explained, pointing towards the ceiling.

"The roof?" Charming asked, sharing a glance with Granny. It was a little difficult, but it certainly seemed like their only option.

"The child's right. It's the only way." Granny said, prying the window open and leaning out. She twisted her back so as to see towards the roof, which was only one story above them. There was a fire escape about ten feet to the left, which they'd have to jump to. Thankfully, there was a small ledge right outside the window where one could keep potted plants. If it could support their weight then they'd be able to make the leap to the fire escape and get to the roof. It just might work.

"Alright, we can do this. Charming, you'll have to go first." Granny said, pulling Charming to his feet and pushing him out the window onto the ledge. He stood up shakily and prepared to jump. It was ten feet, no problem. He sucked in a breath, held it, and jumped.

A few interminable seconds passed, and then Charming felt his body slam into the fire escape. His fingers slipped through the mesh and he was able to suspend himself in relative safety. He pulled himself up onto the steps and looked back towards the ledge to see Henry preparing to jump.

The child wasn't injured like Charming, but he lacked the necessary muscle strength to propel himself all the way. Charming reached his hand out, preparing to catch his grandson. Their eyes locked, a moment passed, and Henry jumped. He fell through the air for what seemed like forever until his hand finally met Charming's.

His grandson was heavier than he remembered, but not so heavy that he couldn't pull him to safety. He managed to get Henry onto the fire escape and an anxious moment. It was taking too long. Where were they? Finally Neal appeared on the ledge… just Neal. Suddenly Charming knew what had happened in that long moment after Henry had jumped. Granny was sacrificing herself for them. She was keeping the door shut so Neal could be with his son.

He couldn't tell Henry. The kid was too good sometimes. He'd never allow them to let Granny sacrifice herself. He'd insist on going back for her. They couldn't afford that.

Charming snapped back to reality as Neal prepared to jump. He positioned his foot on the side of the ledge and got into the proper stance. He was about halfway through the jump when the ledge crumbled beneath his feet, plunging him downward.

Without thinking Charming reached out, his hand finding the back of Neal's shirt. His grandson's father was much heavier and Charming's arm wrenched uncomfortably. He screamed in pain. Definitely broken. Neal looked up, confused as to what had happened. He was dead weight, sitting suspended above a sea of zombies.

It took all three of them working in tandem, but finally they managed to get Neal onto the fire escape alive. His shirt was ripped in half, Charming's arm was broken and he was slowly bleeding out, but they were alive. For the moment that was all that mattered. Until Henry asked a question.

"Where's Granny?"

. . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-Does Granny always get screwed over?**

**-Is Henry sometimes too goody-goody?**

**-Emma: with Hook or with Neal?**

Sound off in the comments!


	7. Chapter 7

**Once Upon A Zombie**

Belle clutched her wrist tightly, pain shooting through it with every movement. She could feel the fog rolling in, clouding her mind. Through the haze she was vaguely aware of Regina asking her to do something, yelling at her, trying to communicate in some way.

"Miss French, I need you to move your hand." Regina commanded, trying to get through to the girl. After a few moment she was forced to take Belle's hand herself and move it aside so she could examine the wound. Ruby and Hook crowded next to her to get a look, and the three took in the sight.

There was an inch long gash running vertically up her wrist. It was a deep red color, oozing blood. Oddly though, it seemed to be glowing… almost as though what had attacked her was magical.

"Regina, why is it glowing?" Ruby asked, motioning towards the wound. Regina's mind was racing with the possibilities, but truly there was only one possible answer.

"It has to be magic somehow." Regina explained.

"You mean those things are… magic?" Ruby asked, unable to believe what she'd heard. It seemed too fantastic… Even for Storybrooke.

"Listen Riding Hood, we'll have time to work this story out later. Right now we need to figure out what happened to Miss French… and if we need to get rid of her or not." Regina said. Even as the words came out of her mouth she regretted them; Ruby would be down her throat in seconds for even insinuating doing away with Belle.

"She's right, Ruby." Hook said. He didn't know the young woman very well, only that she was as quick tempered as she was beautiful. If he didn't rectify things she and Regina would be killing each other within the hour. Ruby looked as though she wanted to say something but remained silent. Belle's the one who needed their attention.

"Belle, look at me." Ruby pleaded, trying to catch her friend's attention. Belle heard it and moved to respond, but found herself unable to. It was as though something was attempting to take over her mind and all her strength was required to keep herself under her own control. She knew what was happening, but found herself unwilling to admit to it.

"Ruby, love, I'm afraid she might be turning into one of… them." Hook said, motioning to the elevator where Whale was trapped. He was about to take Belle and push her out the door when Regina swooped in with a possible solution.

"I may be able to help… temporarily." Regina said. Without further explanation Regina summoned some magic into her hand. It glowed a bright red color and she picked up Belle's hand, diverting all her energy onto the bond between them. She hoped her magic would allow Belle to communicate with them, as she didn't seem to be turning in the same way as the other zombies.

A terrifying moment passed before Regina broke the bond between them and looked into Belle's eyes. In a flash they transformed from empty and cold to alert and engaged. Belle was back, at least for the moment. Unfortunately, her onset of clarity brought back the full feeling of the pain in her wrist. She clutched it and screamed.

"I'm sorry. I can't do anything for the pain." Regina said, taking Belle's hand again. This time it was for comfort and not for a spell. It was awkward.

"It's alright, Regina. I'm back, and that's all that matters." Belle said, removing her hand from her wrist. She tied her hair band around it and left it alone for the moment. She had to be strong to get through.

"Yes. Unfortunately, though I was able to bring you back, I won't be able to keep you here. You've been infected, Belle." Regina expected this news to be met with intense shock on the part of the younger woman, but Belle seemed to accept it without much thought. Perhaps she was stronger than Regina had thought.

"I know. But why haven't I turned yet? The others we saw on the way here transformed in a matter of moments after being infected, but I'm fine."

"I suspect it's because you were only scratched, love." Hook chimed in. Even as he said the words he wiped some of Whale's blood off of his hook, which made the whole thing all the more surreal. "Something tells me their bites are worse than anything else."

"So she'll still turn, but because she got scratched and not bitten she won't turn as fast as the others?" Ruby asked. Hook nodded. Satisfied with this explanation the group turned to the next order of business: translating the book.

"There's only one problem with this situation: Belle's the only one still alive that can translate that book and find the cure. She has to stay around long enough to be able to do that… and something tells me she'll turn before she can get through the whole book." Regina said, voicing everyone's concerns.

"Mr. Gold," Belle said. "He'll have something that can slow the effects of the poison." Belle said. Behind the brave facade she was terrified; what would happen to her when she turned? Could she be brought back, or was it the end? Worse yet, she knew the fate of the whole town was resting on her shoulders. If she turned before finding the cure they were all out of hope. More than anything, however, Belle just wanted to talk to Rumplestiltskin.

"I'll call him." Ruby said, pulling out her cell phone and disappearing up the stairs. She didn't want Belle to hear Gold's reaction to the news, which she guessed would not be taken very lightly. She dialed the number slowly, not wanting to say what she had to. A few agonizing moments passed before Gold answered the phone.

"Ruby?" Gold sounded surprised to be hearing from her.

"Gold. I… I have something to tell you. It's about Belle." Rumplestiltskin's blood froze in his veins. This was what he'd feared more than anything. This was going to be the end of everything he truly loved; the death of Belle and his son.

"Has she been…" Gold cut himself off, unable to finish. Somehow to say it would mean admitting to it, and he wasn't ready for that. Luckily Ruby was there to finish for him.

"Turned. But all hope is not lost. Belle's been scratched, not bitten. She's becoming one of them, but only slowly. For the time being the real Belle is still alive and with us." Ruby explained, hoping this would settle Gold slightly. She thought she heard a slight sigh of relief, but she couldn't really be sure.

"Just tell me what I need to do to help." Gold said, a small sunspot of hope finding a place in his dark soul. His mind was already thinking through every possible way to keep Belle in her right mind until he could reach her.

"Well," Ruby was saying. "Regina used some sort of magic to help Belle remain in control, but she says she can't do much more. We've found a book that we think contains a clue as to how to cure everyone, but it's in another language and-"

"And only Belle can read it." Gold finished.

"Exactly. We were hoping you had some sort of potion or spell that could stave off the effects of the zombie-poison long enough for Belle to translate the book and find a way to fix this whole mess. She's our only hope." Ruby finished, stealing an anxious glance down at her companions. Regina and Hook were arguing, as usual, and Belle was leafing through the pages of the book.

"I just might have something to that effect, Dearie." Gold said, his accent from his days as the Dark One returning. He found it only did so when situations became so dire he had to escape himself. Apparently now was one of those times.

"That's great. Where is it?" Ruby asked, eager to get the next part of their mission underway. This thing had taken too many people from them already. She wasn't about to let Belle die and lose their only chance at saving everyone.

"It's in my shop. We're about wrapped up down here at the hospital. I'll send Emma and Mary Margaret to get the potion. I'm coming to the library." Gold said definitively. With that he hung up, cutting Ruby off mid sentence. Whatever she was going to say would have to wait.

"What was that about?" Mary Margaret asked, joining Gold at the entrance to the hospital basement. Emma, for her part, was still searching through Whale's notebook for anything that could help them.

"It was Ruby. They've found a way to fix this, but Belle's been infected and they need her for it." Gold explained. Mary Margaret felt a surge of exhilaration at this. There was a way to fix this. It could all be alright. She could do whatever she had to see that happen.

"So what's our next move?" Snow White asked. She watched Gold for a long moment. He said and did nothing. She guessed he was probably thinking about Belle… certainly all she'd thought about since leaving the others was Charming. A pang of sadness hit her as she thought about the name. She couldn't bear to think of what he must be going through without her... what she was going through without him.

"You and Emma must go to my shop and find a special potion. It's in small silver vial in a hidden cupboard behind the counter. Once you find it bring it to the library. It should be able to keep Belle from turning long enough for her to decipher the cure."

In that moment Emma arrived, clutching Whale's journal. Evidently, Gold thought, she hadn't found anything of use in it… but maybe he could. Without a word he snatched the papers from her hands and began shuffling through them. As he did so Mary Margaret explained the situation to Emma.

"Gold, what are you doing?" The Savior asked once she had caught up all the way. As if in answer Gold conjured something off the page, a small syringe filled with an odd liquid. Emma guessed astutely that it had something to do with the creation of the zombies.

"You'll need this as well. Inject it into the vial before you give the potion to Belle."

"Why?" Snow White asked, taking the syringe and putting it into her bag.

"The potion is powerful, but it has to know what to fight. It'll keep Belle alive longer if it's already come into contact with what it has to counteract. Besides, this is science mixed with magic; you can never be too careful." Gold explained. Satisfied with this answer, Emma moved on to her next question.

"If we're going to the library, where will you be?"

"Me? I'm going to find Belle."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

Back at the library Ruby was trying to keep her cool in an increasingly volatile situation. Hook and Regina, cracking slightly under the stress of what they'd been through in the last few hours, were at each others throats; Belle was fighting with all her willpower to stay in control of herself and keep translating; and Ruby… Ruby was focusing her energies on _not _turning into a raging, murderous wolf.

"You two need to calm down!" Ruby shouted, pushing Hook and Regina apart with a surprising amount of force.

"Can it, doggie." Regina snapped, causing Ruby's blood to boil. She wanted nothing more than to sic herself on the woman, but she knew deep down that wouldn't solve anything. Ruby was about to make a rebuttal when her phone rang.

"Hello," She answered, annoyed. Her tone immediately changed when she heard the voice on the other end. "David? You're where? Yes, I'm on my way immediately." Ruby hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket. Turning around she saw Hook and Regina looking at her, clearly curious as to who she'd been talking to.

"It was David." Ruby explained. "He and the others who stayed are trapped on the roof of the apartment building. They have no way of escaping without some help. I have to go."

"But you'll never make it alive. The streets are swarming with those… those things." Belle protested, raising her eyes to meet Ruby's.

"I know. That's why I won't be walking." The werewolf cracked a smile for the first time in what felt like years. Without further explanation she disappeared up the stairs that led to the roof, leaving the other three to fend for themselves.

. . . . . . . . . . .

**Author's Notes: **

**-Reviews are welcome!**

**-What did y'all think?**

**-Who will be next?**

**-(Who do you want to be next?)**

**-How are you guys liking Season 3 so far?**

Sound off in the comments!


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